Jewish refugees and Shanghai exhibition held in Malta

The opening ceremony of the exhibition on Jewish refugees and Shanghai was held on Thursday here.

Sponsored by the Malta China Cultural Centre and Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, the 23-day photo exhibition displays precious historical records to illustrate how Jews fled to Shanghai during the Second World War as well as different scenes of their life in Shanghai.

Chinese Ambassador to Malta Cai Jinbiao, Shanghai Hongkou District Deputy Governor Zhang Wei, representative of Malta Jewish Community Gilles Pinto, together with some 60 other Maltese and Jewish expatriates in Malta partook of the ceremony.

Ambassador Cai recalled this year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

He said in a period of eight years between 1933 and 1941, nearly 18,000 Jews fled Nazi persecution and found safe haven in Shanghai. Although stricken by war and fraught with poor economic situation itself, Shanghai offered relentless and selfless support to these new-comers.

From 1933 to 1941, Shanghai became a modern-day "Noah's Ark" accepting thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in Europe.

In the designated area for stateless refugees in Tilanqiao area of Shanghai, about 20,000 Jewish refugees lived harmoniously with local citizens, overcoming numerous difficulties together. By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, most of the Jewish refugees had survived.

Many of the displays tell various true and touching stories, with one dedicated to He Feng Shan, the Chinese consul general in Vienna from 1938 to 1940, who risked his life to issue thousands of visas to Jewish refugees. Enditem